[asa] Vatican on evolution

Below is an article on recent Vatican symposium on creation and
evolution.

Keith

http://www.cathnews.com/news/609/36.php

No shift in Church's position on evolution, Jesuit says

A participant at the Pope's closed door symposium on creation and
evolution, Jesuit Fr Joseph Fessio, has denied speculation about a
change in the Church's teaching on evolution, saying nothing
presented at the meeting broke new ground and that American debates
on Intelligent Design did not feature in discussions.

Catholic News Service reports that the annual gathering of former
doctoral students of Pope Benedict, which was hosted in part by the
Pontiff at his summer villa in Castel Gandolfo, outside Rome,
discussed the relationship among faith, reason and science.

This year's topic was "Creation and Evolution," and one of the
presenters was Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna, who
has argued against what he called "ideological Darwinism."

This prompted media speculation that the Pope was considering a shift
in the church's general acceptance of the theory of evolution.

But Fr Fessio, who attended the symposium, said nothing was presented
at the meeting that "would break new ground or that lays the
foundation for a new position."

He added that while participants discussed the relationship among
faith, reason and science, "the whole American debate on Intelligent
Design did not occur at all here".

Reuters also reports that the proceedings of the meeting will be
published later this year.

The minutes will show how Catholic theologians see no contradiction
between their belief in divine creation and the scientific theory of
evolution, participants told reporters at the end of the meeting.

Controversy surrounding the theory of evolution has grown in the US,
where conservative Christians who oppose teaching it in public
schools promote rival views such as "Intelligent Design", which
scientists reject as "creationism" in disguise.

Benedict has been "concerned for a long time, and especially now that
he is Pope, about fostering a discussion between faith and reason,"
the Rev Stephan Horn, a German theologian who organised the sessions,
told Reuters.

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Received on Sat Sep 9 13:49:29 2006